What's made you not grumpy but not smile either today?

[The Panda Nut]

Just tried that test and out by around 4 inches.
The last time I could have beaten that string test was when I was rowing 50 years ago and waist was around 32 inches.

They dont make string long enough for me.....

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

You really should take a breath and hold your tummy in as much as humanly possible before doing this to get the right result LOL

Ah, well that sorted it! silly me doing it wrong!

 

[PuntoHowTo]

Just bought a pack of C sized rechargeables off Amazon for my boys toy dyson hoover. Was about £10 but will far out last the toy.

We have a clock in the kitchen that runs on D cell batteries, again I got rechargeable on Amazon

Basically these days I just buy rechargeable batteries for everything and the I don’t need to keep re buying them.

We have some Blink cameras outside that specifically have to have high powered Lithium AA batteries, I managed to find some rechargeable ones of those as well that actually push out 1.5volts, rather than the 1.2 of most rechargeables just don’t use them in a torch or they get very hot very quick.

I had to try the string thing out, I am quite tall at 6 foot 3 but I am also over weight at the moment, something in the region of 16 st, still the string was exactly the same around the waist as my height halved, so what does that mean ?

There was a time about 10 years ago now I was 11.5 stone

 

[Cheest]

I finished my Motorcycle Awareness Classes yesterday for the year. No more classes until mid January. I always ride a scoot to the classes, even if it's cold and wet, to show the kids I'm not a 'Fair Weather' rider. Yesterday, I had two classes at the same school, five hours apart. I can't kill five hours at Farm & Fleet between classes, so I ride back home. The two round trips total about 60 miles. During the second round trip, I started feeling a vibration in the front end of the scoot. Damn, spun another bearing in the front hub. I've been shimming this hub while waiting for the new hub I've had on order for over a year. The brass shims don't hold up, so I'm going to use steel this go-round.

Fingers crossed that it holds together until January, the rumored arrival of my new hub.

 

[bugsymike]

I finished my Motorcycle Awareness Classes yesterday for the year. No more classes until mid January. I always ride a scoot to the classes, even if it's cold and wet, to show the kids I'm not a 'Fair Weather' rider. Yesterday, I had two classes at the same school, five hours apart. I can't kill five hours at Farm & Fleet between classes, so I ride back home. The two round trips total about 60 miles. During the second round trip, I started feeling a vibration in the front end of the scoot. Damn, spun another bearing in the front hub. I've been shimming this hub while waiting for the new hub I've had on order for over a year. The brass shims don't hold up, so I'm going to use steel this go-round.

Fingers crossed that it holds together until January, the rumored arrival of my new hub.

Mind you , they didn't say which January.

 

[Cheest]

Fingers crossed that it holds together until January, the rumored arrival of my new hub.

While farting around in my garage, I decided to call the local Ural dealer to get an ETA on my hub. JHC, Irbit Motor Works is still behind. Now it won't be here til March. And that's a maybe.

I ordered some stuff from Ukraine recently and got it in 2 weeks.

 

[portland_bill]

Envelope arrived today from DVLA, reminders to tax both Fabia and Doblo. I'm still impressed they put them both in the same envelope, as they did last year. Impressive for a government department.
So that's done.
Fabia £20
Doblo £255

 

[bugsymike]

Envelope arrived today from DVLA, reminders to tax both Fabia and Doblo. I'm still impressed they put them both in the same envelope, as they did last year. Impressive for a government department.
So that's done.
Fabia £20
Doblo £255

They have never managed that for me, Doblo, Scudo and Skoda all in separate envelopes same day.

 

[mowermender70]

thats odd dvla sent me note as i no longer own my classic ariel leader to say no tax return on it all so then today another dvla letter tax retunn for the panda which i have sold refund £29 06 have now got quobo trecking tax £20 and now in pocket for £9 06 p trecking now makes no 25 fiats its my last one it makes life easer to visit the wife 32 miles up the road to visit her in the mental health ward mowermender70

 

[The Panda Nut]

Envelope arrived today from DVLA, reminders to tax both Fabia and Doblo. I'm still impressed they put them both in the same envelope, as they did last year. Impressive for a government department.
So that's done.
Fabia £20
Doblo £255

£255 £255 ROBBERY Surely as a disabled carriage society could manage better than this?

 

[The Panda Nut]

thats odd dvla sent me note as i no longer own my classic ariel leader to say no tax return on it all so then today another dvla letter tax retunn for the panda which i have sold refund £29 06 have now got quobo trecking tax £20 and now in pocket for £9 06 p trecking now makes no 25 fiats its my last one it makes life easer to visit the wife 32 miles up the road to visit her in the mental health ward mowermender70

Thats a bit odd. Normally you get a slip saying you dont own the vehicle within days and the tax back very soon after thtas a LONG delay!
AT least you have a little cash back from the Tax robbers.

 

[portland_bill]

£255 £255 ROBBERY Surely as a disabled carriage society could manage better than this?

When I got it, it was registered as 'disabled' for zero tax. I changed this to 'private car'.
The rules regarding disabled status is that it must be used almost exclusively for the benefit of the disabled badge holder. That would mean it would only get used once or twice a month, which is probably its life before my ownership. It was 6 years old with 12k on the clock. Not good for any vehicle.
With it registered as a normal car, I use it at least once a fortnight, and can use it for 'van' stuff, as it will be used on Monday, while continue to clear uncle's house. Honesty comes at a high price. All based on CO2, of course, and it is a petrol, doing 35mpg average.

 

[The Panda Nut]

They have never managed that for me, Doblo, Scudo and Skoda all in separate envelopes same day.

Thats because you have too many posts on the grumpy thread and they have decided to take the P and give you more ammunution. PS 'They' never do one envelope for anything for this household.

 

[Cheest]

While farting around in my garage, I decided to call the local Ural dealer to get an ETA on my hub. JHC, Irbit Motor Works is still behind. Now it won't be here til March. And that's a maybe.

I ordered some stuff from Ukraine recently and got it in 2 weeks.

The steel shim stock arrived yesterday. I bought an assortment of thicknesses because I also have a 90 year old lathe, a 77 year old car, and 69 year old knees. Nothing, and I mean nothing, was marked for size. I spent a good hour checking each sheet with a micrometer and marking them with a Sharpie. Anywhoo, I found what I felt would be the right size, cut two shims to fit, and got the hub back together. I went about .002" larger than the last attempt and needed a bearing driver to pop the bearings in place this time instead of the palm of my hand.
I mounted the wheel in the fork and no lateral or axial slop. Yay!

 

[bugsymike]

Thats because you have too many posts on the grumpy thread and they have decided to take the P and give you more ammunution. PS 'They' never do one envelope for anything for this household.

Ha,ha! If only I had studied hard at school, I could have trained as a lawyer and then become a dodgy politician with a "company car".

 

[bugsymike]

I mounted the wheel in the fork and no lateral or axial slop. Yay!

So better than when it was new then?

 

[Cheest]

So better than when it was new then?

You know!

That was the response I got from a gent who stopped by my Ural and said, "I have a Nevel.' To which I replied. "Oh, I'm sorry." Laughter all around.

 

[SB1500]

"Apple Intelligence". The new fancy, flashy features on the latest iPhones and my computer that are set to change the world. The first taste.. it's what I feared. Cool to mess around with, but not much use in practice.

It reminds me of my beloved hobby of Brutalist architecture. It looks at everything like a technical problem, with impressive technical solutions. And I love to learn all about these bold, radical new ways of thinking and how they will make everybody's lives better. Like living in the future.

But then, you wake up in your apartment or house, you open the curtains or walk outside, and you're faced with dull grey concrete, you're up insanely high off the ground. And you need to cross a foot bridge and loads of steps to get to the shop... it's all so, unnatural. It's not as nice as the piece in the Architects Journal made it sound in reality.

Same sort of experience. It comically summarised a, shall we say difficult conversation with the girlfriend this morning. Did a great job, three key points but it lacked all of the human touches to really 'stick it to me'. And it offered me some superb, professionally worded responses too. Only my phone is new enough to have this yet, hers isn't (for now). I was just thinking, instead of conversing with each other, it's "my robot will deal with your robot". It'll be quite sad.

I love technology, I love Apple especially who tend to get things right in the end where others failed. I just don't think AI is going to find its place in the world as long as it keeps trying to solve problems that don't exist. It should really just stick to giving me the best route home based on live data or menial tasks like that.

I'll probably turn it off when the buzz dies down.

 

[bugsymike]

"Apple Intelligence". The new fancy, flashy features on the latest iPhones and my computer that are set to change the world. The first taste.. it's what I feared. Cool to mess around with, but not much use in practice.

It reminds me of my beloved hobby of Brutalist architecture. It looks at everything like a technical problem, with impressive technical solutions. And I love to learn all about these bold, radical new ways of thinking and how they will make everybody's lives better. Like living in the future.

But then, you wake up in your apartment or house, you open the curtains or walk outside, and you're faced with dull grey concrete, you're up insanely high off the ground. And you need to cross a foot bridge and loads of steps to get to the shop... it's all so, unnatural. It's not as nice as the piece in the Architects Journal made it sound in reality.

Same sort of experience. It comically summarised a, shall we say difficult conversation with the girlfriend this morning. Did a great job, three key points but it lacked all of the human touches to really 'stick it to me'. And it offered me some superb, professionally worded responses too. Only my phone is new enough to have this yet, hers isn't (for now). I was just thinking, instead of conversing with each other, it's "my robot will deal with your robot". It'll be quite sad.

I love technology, I love Apple especially who tend to get things right in the end where others failed. I just don't think AI is going to find its place in the world as long as it keeps trying to solve problems that don't exist. It should really just stick to giving me the best route home based on live data or menial tasks like that.

I'll probably turn it off when the buzz dies down.

What's a mobile phone?
Oh! Isn't that something I read about somewhere, some gadget that rules peoples lives.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

What's a mobile phone?
Oh! Isn't that something I read about somewhere, some gadget that rules peoples lives.

Mobile phone? an iniquitous invention of the devil but, probably more desirable than a "smart" phone?